Processed by YIVO Archivists, 1950s-1970s. Additional processing by Gunnar Berg with the assistance of a grant from the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, New York.
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research© November 2001 YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. All rights reserved.
Machine-readable finding aid created by YIVO Archivist Gunnar M. Berg as a Wordperfect document. November 1997 with the assistance of a grant from the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS). Electronic finding aid converted to EAD 1.0 by Dianne Ritchey Oummia. November 2001. EAD finding aid customized in ARCHON in 2012. Description is in English.
Title: Guide to the Records of the HICEM Office in Prague, 1927-1939, RG 245.10
ID: RG 245.10 FA
Extent: 5.3 Linear Feet. More info below.
Arrangement:
Series I and part of Series II is arranged by subject and in chronological order within. Series III is arranged alphabetically by last name.
The records are divided into three series as follows:
Series I: Minutes of National Committee Meetings, 1934-1937
Series II: Correspondence of the HICEM-Prague office, 1927-1939
Series III: Refugee Case Files, 1936-1939
Collection consists of records of the HICEM Office in Prague, documenting efforts to assist Jewish refugees from Czechoslovakia. Records include minutes of National Committee Meetings, correspondence from the HICEM office, including with various aid societies, and extensive individual refugee case files.
The bulk of the collection consists of files of Marie Schmolka, a HICEM representative, who was also involved with the National Committee and with a number of German-Jewish immigrant groups. Marie Schmolka was killed by Gestapo agents in the fall of 1939 several weeks after she returned from a HICEM sponsored immigration conference in Paris.
The records contain minutes from the National Committee for Refugees Coming From Germany, correspondence of the HICEM Prague office concerning organizational activities and regarding assistance of refugees, and refugee case files.
Many topics are covered in this collection, especially assistance provided to refugees and conferences concerning them, victims of applications of the Nuremberg Laws in Czechoslovakia and Austria, dealings with authorities concerning identity papers, and coordination of activities among aid organizations.
The materials are written in various languages, principally Czech, German, English and French.
The HICEM Office in Prague was established in 1936 to facilitate relief for the growing mass of German-Jewish refugees in Czechoslovakia. The HICEM office was the successor to the National Committee for Refugees Coming From Germany which coordinated relief work from 1934 to 1936. The National Committee sought to coordinate the activities of the various member groups and present a single voice when dealing with Czech government officials and with the European High Commissioner for Refugees.
Alternate Extent Statement: 5 ft, 3 inches; 7 microfilm reels (MKM 15.135 - MKM 15.141), 12 five inch legal boxes and 1 three inch box
Access Restrictions: The records are open to researchers with permission of and by appointment with the Chief Archivist. For more information contact the Chief Archivist at archives@yivo.cjh.org.
Use Restrictions: There may be some restrictions on the use of the collection. For more information, contact email: archives@yivo.cjh.org
Acquisition Source: Collection was received in 1955 from the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, then known as the United HIAS Service.
Original/Copies Note:
Microfilm Information:
This collection is on 9 reels of microfilm, MKM 15.135-15.143
MKM 15.135 Folders: 1 - 8
MKM 15.136 Folders: 8 - 21
MKM 15.137 Folders: 21 - 30
MKM 15.138 Folders: 31 - 42
MKM 15.139 Folders: 43 - 54
MKM 15.140 Folders: 54 - 69
MKM 15.141 Folders: 70 - 86
MKM 15.142 Folders: 86 - 101
MKM 15.143 Folder: 102
Related Materials: This collection is a Subgroup of RG 245.
Preferred Citation: Published citations should take the following form:Identification of item, date (if known); Records of the HICEM Office in Prague; RG 245.10; box number; folder number; YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.
Finding Aid Revision History: Originally arranged in 1979 as Record Group 245.4, Series XXIX, with the assistance of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Inventory prepared in 1997 with the assistance of a grant from the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, New York
Abbreviated minutes of the weekly meetings of the National Committee for Refugees Coming From Germany.. This group consisted of representatives from the Jewish Aid Committee, the Social-Democratic Refugee Organization, the German Immigrant Aid Committee, the Union of Private Aid Groups and the Democratic Refugee Organization. There are also minutes from meetings of a Childrens Aid subcommittee.
Topics covered in the minutes included: reports from several European conferences on refugees; securing identity papers for stateless refugees; dealings with police authorities regarding victims of the application of the Nuremberg Laws in Germany and similar laws in Czechoslovakia and Austria.
Principal correspondents are Maria Schmolka (Director of the Prague office) and Hanna Steiner.
Administrative reports and correspondence regarding: HICEM office operations; efforts to secure lodging, food distribution and visa requests for arriving refugees; activities of other groups in Czechoslovakia (e.g., Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO), Trans-Carpathian Jewish Aid Comittee, Carpatho-Russian Aid Committee, Hilfsverein der Deutschen Juden (Germany), the South German Party and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom); European conferences with the International Labor Bureau, Geneva and the High Commissioner for Refugees.
Correspondence with: Czech goverment agencies; American consulate in Prague; HICEM, Paris; High Commission of the League of Nations for Refugees Coming From Germany; AJDC, Mukacevo; Government of New Zealand; various refugee organizations. Correspondence of the National Committee. HICEM financial reports and bookkeeping records.
Folder 2: Correspondence between the HICEM office in Prague and individuals,
other aid organizations, government offices and foreign consulates [many
letters in Czech]
Folder 4: Circulating memoranda, from HICEM (Paris) to its affiliates,
explaining immigration requirements for various countries
Folder 10: Correspondence and legal depositions regarding a trial of a Dr.
Karel Feitenhansl
Folder 11: Daily lists of refugees being summoned by the HICEM office in
Prague, to obtain emigration affidavits and consular interviews
Folder 13: Individual emigration expense sheets for specific refugees as well
as annual summaries for the Prague office
Folder 15: Correspondence between Prague and various individuals and banks in
the Czechoslovak Republic regarding the establishment of an orphans' shelter in
the city of Mukacevo (Trans-Carpathian Russia) and setting up bank accounts in
various cities
Folder 16: Personal correspondence from prospective emigrants and individual
expense sheets from refugees being helped by HICEM
Folder 17: Accounting ledger sheets and correspondence regarding expenses for
individual refugees (some grouping by town of origin)
Folder 18: Receipts and accounting correspondence for emigration travel
expenses
Folder 20: Pages from a personal address book; pages from a personal diary with
handwritten daily entries of activities and people contacted;stenographic notes
from an unknown meeting [authors unknown].
This series consists of the central files of dossiers of refugees assisted by the HICEM Prague Committee. They are divided into two groups [distinction unknown]: a main body and an Addendum. This listing of individuals was compiled in 1979.
Each file can consist of personal correspondence between the refugee and the Committee, official correspondence with government officials, affidavits from sponsors in the destination country and application forms.